When is Dahi Handi?
Dahi Handi is celebrated the day after Krishna Janmashtami in Maharashtra and other states in western India. The event symbolizes the stealing of butter by Krishna and his friends.
Traditions of Dahi Handi
The major attraction of the festival is ‘dahi-handi’. It involves communities hanging a clay pot filled with yogurt (dahi), butter, or another milk-based food at a convenient or tall height. Young men and boys form teams, make a human pyramid, and attempt to reach or break the pot. As they do so, people surround them, sing, play music, and cheer them on. It is a public spectacle, and an old tradition.
Over 4000 “dahi-handi” events are organized on Janmashtami in Mumbai alone; the most popular of them being held at Girgaon, Dadar, Lower Parel, Worli and Lalbaug.
The event is based on the legend of the god Krishna along with his friends who steal butter and other curds from the houses of neighbours in Gokul as a child. He is also called Makhan chor or butter thief. The neighbours would try to avert his mischief by hanging the pots high out of his reach, but Krishna would find creative ways to reach them.
